Holes :: essays research papers

HolesStanley Yelnats, a boy who has bad luck due to a curse placed on his gr obliterate- great-grandfather, is sent to Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention camp, for a crime he did not commit. Stanley and the otherwise boys at the camp are forced to dig large holes in the dirt every day. Stanley eventually realizes that they are digging these holes because the Warden is searching for something. As Stanley continues to dig holes and meet the other boys at the camp, the narrator intertwines three order stories to reveal why Stanleys family has a curse and what the Warden is looking for.When he was a boy, Stanleys great-great-grandfather, Elya Yelnats, received a pig from Madame Zeroni, a gypsy, in exchange for a promise. Elyas promise was that after the pig grew strong he would carry Madame Zeroni, who still had one leg, up a mountain and sing her a birdcall that she had taught him. After becoming disillusioned with the girl he thought he loved, however, Elya hops a boat to Ameri ca, forgetting his promise to Madame Zeroni. Elya marries and has a child in America and always thinks about Madame Zeroni, who he believes has cursed him because of his failure to carry through his promise. He knows that Madame Zeronis son lives in America, but Elya never finds him.One coulomb and ten years before Stanley arrives at Camp Green Lake, the township of Green Lake is a beautiful place where peach trees bloom throughout the spring. In this Texas town, the schoolteacher, Katherine Barlow, falls in love with Sam, the onion seller. Sam sells onions to eat and to use for medicinal purposes. While Katherine and Sam are alive, racism is charge in the United States and it is against the law for a black manhood to caress a white woman. Because Sam is black and Katherine is white, the people in the town become irate when they find that Katherine and Sam have kissed. Charles, or Trout, Walker, the richest man in town has always wanted to marry Katherine. He is already mad t hat Katherine does not wish to go out with him so when he finds out that she is in love with Sam he gathers the townspeople to skip the schoolhouse and attack Sam. Katherine seeks help from the local sheriff but instead finds that the sheriff, who makes dirty advances towards her, also wants to kill Sam.